Daily Archives: January 25, 2017

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I have a massive heavy silent HTPC and i want to build a new smaller lighter HTPC. I would like something like the size of the Streacom FC8 FC9 or FC10 for example. I would consider just a case or full or partial built HTPC.

Location: Sharnford Leicestershire

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In today’s post, we’re covering how PC software can leverage the rich functionality of Windows 10. This is valuable background for the upcoming post “Adding UWP Features to Your Existing PC Software with the Desktop Bridge,” which will go into even more detail on the topic in the coming days.

So here’s a question that generates a lot of confusion. Can PC software written in WPF, WinForms or MFC access the Windows 10 APIs used by the Universal Windows Platform (UWP)?

The answer is yes. There are some exceptions to this rule (and we’ll go over how to find them), but in general you can access the Windows 10 APIs. Or put a different way, there are no secret APIs being kept away from Windows developers.

How to access the Windows 10 APIs from WPF

You can access the Windows 10 APIs from a pre-existing WPF project. To do so, go to your Solution Explorer window and …

Right click on References. Select “Add Reference…” from the context menu. On the left of the Reference Manager, choose Browse and find the following file: C:Program Files (x86)Windows Kits10UnionMetadatawinmd. Add it to your project as a reference. Note: You will need to change the filter to “All Files”.

Right click on References. Select “Add Reference…” from the context menu. On the left of the Reference Manager, go to Browse and find the directory “C:Program Files (x86)Reference AssembliesMicrosoftFramework.NETCorev4.5”. Add Runtime.WindowsRuntime.dll to your project.

Let’s say I want to make my WPF application location aware by calling on the Geolocator class in the Windows 10 Windows.Devices.Geolocation API. I can now do this and even use the asynchronous pattern common in UWP. Classes and methods I commonly think of as UWP code are now interweaved with classes and methods from WPF. In the example show below, I take my latitude and longitude from Geolocator and display it in a WPF MessageBox.

How do I know which APIs are available?

As mentioned above, there are exceptions to the rule that Windows 10 APIs are accessible from PC software. The first big exception concerns XAML UI APIs. The XAML framework in UWP is different from the one in WPF and you really don’t want to be mixing them up, anyways.

The second set of APIs that you can’t use are ones that depend on an app’s package identity. UWP apps have package identities while PC software does not. Package identity information can be found in the app manifest file.

How do you determine which Windows 10 APIs require a package identity and which do not? The easiest way is to refer to this MSDN topic.

Unlocking even more APIs

There’s actually a way to provide PC software with a package identity. The Desktop Bridge lets you package PC software for deployment in the Windows Store. As part of this process, you create an app manifest file for it, effectively giving it a package identity.

If you package your PC software for the Windows Store using Desktop Bridge, then most of the APIs you couldn’t previously use, because they require a package identity, will be available to you. APIs that depend on CoreWindow will still be a problem. However, once you have a desktop bridge package, you can add a UWP component (that runs in a separate app container process), and call literally any UWP API from there.

A quicker way to get at those Windows 10 APIs

But say you don’t want to deploy to the Windows Store at the moment and just want to use some of those Windows 10 APIs. How do you get to them from your app?

There’s a NuGet package for that. It’s called UwpDesktop and is written by Vladimir Postel and Lucian Wischik. If you want to examine the source code, it is maintained on GitHub.

For demonstration purposes, let’s build a console app based on a 2012 article by Scott Hanselman on using WinRT APIs (partly to show how much easier it is to do today). After creating a new desktop console application, insert the original code from 2012 into the Main method in Program.cs.

This code sadly will not compile because .NET 4.5 doesn’t know what the LightSensor class is, as shown below.

Here’s how we fix that. Install the UWPDesktop package to your project using the NuGet Package Manager.

Back in Program.cs, add the following using directive to the top of the file:

using Windows.Devices.Sensors;

Next … well, actually that’s all it took. The app works now (assuming you have a light sensor attached to your computer).

And that’s the quick way to go about using Windows 10 APIs in a managed app.

How to access the Windows 10 APIs from C++

Calling Window 10 APIs isn’t just for managed code. You’ve also always been able to call them from C++ native apps.

Start by creating a new C++ Win32 application project. Alternatively, open a pre-existing C++ windows application project. Right click on your project and select Properties to bring up the configuration window. There are just four steps required to configure your application to make Windows 10 API calls.

Select the Configuration Properties > C/C++ > General node in the left pane. Set the Consume Windows Runtime Extension property to Yes.

In the same window, edit the Additional #using Directories property, adding the following entries:

Clicking on Help > About will bring up the Windows 10 Settings app, while clicking on File > Exit will bring you to this blog (admittedly not a good design, but it makes its point).

Let’s go one level deeper. There are many C++ applications and games out there that use alternative build tools and alternative build processes. Many of them continue to target older versions of Windows because this is what their customers are using. How can these application developers gradually move over to the Windows 10 APIs without abandoning their Windows 7 clients?

Reusing the same steps above for building a Windows executable, one could build a DLL to encapsulate any Windows 10 calls one might need, isolating them from the rest of the application. Let’s call this new DLL UWPFeatures.dll.

Then in the original application, method calls should check to see if the UWPFeatures.dll is packaged with the application (which will be true for Windows 10 installs). If it is present, it can be loaded dynamically and called. If it isn’t present, then the original call is made instead. This provides a quick pattern for not only accessing the Windows 10 APIs from pre-existing C++ games and applications, but also for doing it in a way that doesn’t require heavy reworking of the current base code.

Wrapping up

It has sometimes been claimed that Windows 10 has secret APIs that are only accessible through UWP apps. In this post, we demonstrated that this is not the case and also went over some of the ins and outs of using Windows 10 APIs in both managed and native desktop apps. You will find links below to even more reference materials on the subject.

Did you find this post helpful? Please let us know in the comments below—and also let us know if there’s anything else you’d like us to dig into for you about this topic.

Want to go a step further? Be sure to come back next week for our next blog, where we go into more detail about adding a UWP feature to your existing PC software with the Desktop Bridge.

Hi guys,
I’ve got a pretty much brand new Apple Magic Keyboard. I’ve used it once, it comes in original packaging, I’ve had it about a week. It’s been kept in its box after the single use, I just ended up not needing it for my setup

I’ll ship special delivery on day of payment so long as its before 3pm.

It’s a big update week for PC and Xbox One gamers who are part of the Xbox and Windows Insider Programs. Starting this week,* these gamers will see and experience new features from the Windows 10 Creators Update on PC, with additional features expected to hit console in the coming days. Earlier this week, select Insider members saw new features such as the updated Home, Guide and refreshed multitasking for Xbox One.

This week’s update includes some big new additions for PC gamers, with a few more features releasing for Xbox One owners soon. These new features are releasing to a small subset of Insiders starting now, with more Xbox and Windows Insider Program members receiving these in the coming weeks.

Here’s a look at what’s new for select Windows Insiders starting this week:

Built-in Beam streaming

Beam is the easiest and quickest way to stream gameplay, and it’s part of Insider builds starting later this week on your Windows 10 PC, with Xbox One functionality releasing to preview soon. For the creators out there, we wanted to make it easier for you to start your live game streams without any delays so you can quickly connect and engage with your viewers no matter where they are. On Beam, streams have under one second of delay; using our brand new streaming protocol dubbed “FTL”, you can interact with livestreams as if you were in the same room as the caster. What’s more, any stream can incorporate simple interactive features such as sound boards. Starting later this week on Windows 10 PCs, you can start Beam broadcasts by pulling up the Game bar — Windows key + G. And coming soon on Xbox One, you can also begin streaming directly from inside the Guide. The ability to manage your Beam broadcasts and interact with fellow gamers on chat will appear as overlays.

Gaming section in System Settings

Later this week, inside the main Windows System Settings, a new section is being added: Gaming, identified with the Xbox logo. Starting later this week, you’ll find settings for Game bar, GameDVR and broadcasting in this new Gaming area, with Game Mode coming in a future update. We’re also beginning to consolidate some system and user settings for gaming in this unified location, where PC users are accustomed to accessing their settings. We’ll continue to develop and deploy Gaming settings over time, as we continue to gather gamer feedback.

Game Mode

Last year, we set out to make Windows 10 the best Windows ever for gaming. With Game Mode, it’s our goal to now take things a step further to make the gaming experience on Windows even better. Our vision is that Game Mode optimizes your Windows 10 PC for an improvement in overall game performance. This week’s Windows Insider build represents the first step on our journey with Game Mode. To enable Game Mode for your Win32 or UWP game, pull up the Game bar (Windows key + G) and click on the Settings button. There you’ll be able to opt the running game into using Game Mode. We’ll have additional details about Game Mode to share throughout Insider testing, so stay tuned.

*This post has been updated to reflect Windows 10 Creators Update features on PC will release later this week. An earlier version of this post stated these features would release starting tomorrow, Jan. 26.

Hi Guys, I did ask before, but the Chromebook I’d planned on buying fell through so I’m on the prowl again. Looking for a good battery and screen, preferably with a hybrid chasis, touch screen but not set in stone and 4gb of RAM…..but will consider anything based on price.

So………what ya got?

Cheers,

Rich

Location: Teesside

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Literally new and unused in box with all manuals and stickers/plastics covering the bezel, unopened mouse and keyboard, have only opened to take pictures. Specs as follows:
22″ full HD screen
Pentium N3700
4gb DDR3
500gb HD
DVDRW